Arrived

El Nino — the warming of surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific ocean, which can influence the formation of Atlantic hurricanes — has arrived, scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said Thursday.

El Nino — the warming of surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific ocean, which can influence the formation of Atlantic hurricanes — has arrived, scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said Thursday.

The first of what proponents hope will be thousands of clean-fueled, heavy-duty cargo-toting trucks arrived at the combined Long Beach and Los Angeles Ports Tuesday, beginning a 12-month demonstration of compressed natural gas (CNG)-fueled transport of containers off-loaded from ships in the nation’s busiest port facility. Sempra Energy, regional air pollution regulators and the two ports are collaborating in the effort to replace diesel-powered transport.

Hurricane Ike now looks as if it will miss the major energy infrastructure in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM), but most of the offshore installations, shuttered when Hurricane Gustav arrived, are expected to remain shut in until the latest storm passes. Meanwhile, forecasters were recommending that the Texas Gulf Coast prepare for Ike, which moved into the GOM Tuesday, moving west toward an expected landfall Friday or Saturday.

Two “bullish surprises” arrived this fall: a bit colder than expected temperatures and an “extremely” low level of liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports, which together suggests that Henry Hub prices in early 2008 may inch higher than a year ago.

Two “bullish surprises” arrived this fall: a bit colder than expected temperatures and an “extremely” low level of liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports, which together suggests that Henry Hub prices for the first quarter of 2008 may be higher than a year ago.

As summer arrived, Sempra Energy continued to downplay as pure uninformed speculation the reports this month that the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) wants to get a piece of Sempra’s successful energy trading business. RBS and any other suitors might want to consider what the San Diego-based holding company has said previously: partnership is a possibility, but a sale is not likely.

Severe winter weather, having already arrived in the West and predicted to engulf much of the rest of the U.S. by the end of the week, sparked rising prices at a solid majority of points Monday. The Midcontinent and West regions, which had recorded all of the preceding Wednesday’s dollar-plus plunges, also saw all of the Monday rally’s triple-digit gains that ranged as high as about $1.80.

Anticipated colder weather arrived on schedule as advertised over the weekend and, coupled with Friday’s gain of a little more than a quarter in natural gas futures and the return of industrial load from its usual weekend hiatus, was able to generate double-digit price gains at nearly all points Monday.